What No One Expected
by daughterofBarricade
Summary: One of the zoo members is not who they say they are. Amongst a population of mostly males, an undetected female hides among them. When she comes of age, her secret is revealed and things become difficult. Meanwhile, trouble stirs in Europe that can put the whole world in danger.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Heads up, I haven't seen **_**every**_ **episode, and I'm still busy watching full Penguins of Madagascar episodes online. As a result, some characters **_**may**_** seem ooc, and if they do, **_**please**_** let me know so I can make sure I have their mannerisms, accents and whatnot down before I post any other chapters. :)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Penguins of Madagascar series and I'm in no form making any money off of this. It's just for the plain enjoyment of fans. **

Dr. George Konda looked up from the files in his hand as Alice stormed into the office with the requested patient under her arm, dropping the small animal onto the exam table, before crossing her arms.

"Any others you want me to fetch?" She demanded with impatience.

Dr. Konda shook his head, "No, no. I just need this one." He said with a patient smile while getting up from where he sat. Alice shrugged,

"Fine, but don't bug me in thirty minutes to get any other animals…I've got lots of stuff to do." She deadpanned. "So…why exactly did you need to see just _this_ one?"

The vet lifted us patient into his arms and stroked the obviously nervous creature, "Because I believe she's finally at the age to start mating, and I want to be sure that she is perfectly healthy before she starts breeding."

Alice huffed, "You really want _more_ of those?" she pointed at the patient, "The rest are already a handful and you want there to be _another_?"

Dr. Konda chuckled, "They're feisty yes, but I think an infant may help calm them down." He patted the female's head and placed her on the table. He didn't miss the shiver that ran through her body, "Oh don't fret little one, I know how well you get along with your little friends, and I'm sure one of them would love to have a pretty little thing like you as a mate." He rubbed her back.

"Alright whatever you say…can I go now?" Alice complained.

"Yes, you're free to leave, but on your way out, please send Shawna in. I can use her help." Konda replied while fitting a stethoscope into his ears.

"I'm on it...let me know when you ready for me to take the little nightmare back to her exhibit." Alice stated as she left the room.

"Mmm-hmm." The doctor hummed as he listened to the tiny animal's heartbeat. A moment later, the blond nurse that was Shawna, stepped into the room.

The moment she caught sight of the patient, she shied by slightly, "…Oh hey little guy…" she greeted timidly. The fright the 'little guy' had given her not too long ago still fresh in her mind.

"Actually," Dr. Konda removed the stethoscope plugs and placed the device to the side before writing down something on his clipboard, "this 'little guy' is in fact, a female."

Shawna blinked, "Really?" she stepped forward, her nerves forgotten.

Dr. Konda nodded, "Indeed, and if this checkup goes well, she'll be ready to choose a mate and hopefully become a mother." His smile returned as both he and his intern grinned down at the animal in question.

"Awww, that's so cute!" Shawna gushed as she reached out to pet the black and white bird that was sitting on the table. "Is she going to go for a temporary transfer or is she going to…you know…with…_them_."

Her supervisor shook his head, "Oh no, there's no need for a transfer, she'll definitely be mating with the males we have here." He paused, "Unless nothing happens, then yes, a transfer may be in order."

Shawna was silent for a moment, "Well…I guess it _would_ be fun to see some little baby penguins around here." She beamed at the thought of a little fuzz ball waddling around the penguin exhibit.

"That's the spirit! Now, if you would be so kind as to take down some notes while I perform the exam." Dr. Konda replied as they turned to the penguin in question.

**Private **

Private couldn't believe this was happening…after keeping this secret for so long, it seemed like it was finally going to be revealed. There was no avoiding it, one way or another, her comrades were going to find out he was actually a _she_, and there was nothing she could do about it. If the humans didn't blab it to her team, then it would probably be her revealing herself…unintentionally of course, giving that her instinct was taking hold and certain urges were becoming overwhelming.

The young penguin sighed as the vets continued to check her over. 'And here I thought I dodged a bullet back with the mixup with K'walski's DNA machine.' She mussed thinking back to when she and the rest of the team discovered that there was a female amongst them, no thanks to Alice opening her big yap…or young human boy that had brought up the issue in the first place.

She shuddered when the image of the DNA machine came to mind. The young female was surprised that her heart didn't shoot out of her chest with how hard and fast it was beating. Though to her surprise and pleasure, the test marked her as 'male', to which in her excitement, she gave a relieved 'yay!'

Even then she nearly gave herself away, her voice reaching a higher than usual octave. Luckily though, no one had noticed. They were all focused on finding Kowalski and Skipper's results. She knew that her result was an unnoticed error, but she wasn't complaining.

Then to her surprise, it was _Skipper_ that came out with the negative result, causing him to believe that _he_ was the female.

It didn't take Private long to realize that the machine had made another error. Later, after Skipper retook the test and was revealed to actually be a male, Private was able to piece together what happened in the first results.

Looking at both test together, the boys were able to assume that all four of them were male, but looking back at the first test, Private knew that the machine had been right the first time. There really were three males and one female, just as Alice said, but the only error the machine made was labeling _who_ was the girl of the group.

Luckily, that was the end of that and life went on…at least for the men. For Private however, things just continued to get worse.

As of lately, she's been having strong urges, which have been getting harder and harder to control. An example being the time when Kowalski blared penguin mating calls at the lemur habitat.

Good gosh it had taken every ounce of strength to resist giving a call back; especially once she saw the look Rico gave Kowalski.

"My, you're quiet today. I suppose you tired yourself out last night." Dr. Konda mused as he looked over the collected information, "Mr. Gates told me that you were out of your habitat last night at the far end of the zoo." The vet gave a small laugh, "If you're looking for a mate, it would help to be inside your habitat next time you give your mating call little one." He gave Private another pat on the head.

Private flinched. Last night, her instincts took over and in an act of desperation, she had snuck out of headquarters, out of the habitat and to the farthest area away from her comrades. Once out of her teams hearing range, she gave a heads up to some of the local residents before letting out a good round of mating calls.

Unfortunately, it seemed that the zoo security had stayed at the zoo late, and had heard the lone avian's calls. It didn't take him long to find and return her to her habitat. And it was obvious that he was the one that told Dr. Konda that she was 'possibly' ready to start a family.

"Well, we're all done here," came the doctors voice again, "Everything shows that you are fit and ready to become a mother." He smiled at the frightened penguin, "I can't wait to see who you choose to be the daddy!"

Had the penguins face not been as white as it was, the humans would have noticed the color drain from her face.

Those words and the meaning behind them were her worst nightmare. Those and the ones Konda said earlier, _If nothing happens…a transfer may be in order_.

Private understood the subliminal meaning behind those words.

Mate with your comrades or leave and mate with a stranger.

Private felt trapped between a rock and a hard place. Obviously, she didn't want to leave and have a chick with a completely random penguin, but at the same time, she wasn't too keen on breeding with her fellow soldiers in her flock…especially since they had no idea that she was a female. And even if she did, whom would she choose?

Kowalski was far more intelligent than her, and even if he wasn't already infatuated with Doris, Private had the assumption that he would deserve a penguin much brighter than her. Rico…was _way_ too wild and eccentric for her…plus he had that doll.

So that left only Skipper…

But what were the chances he would agree to mate with her?

'Let's see Private, speaking hypothetically, if you _did_ by some crazy chance choose Skipper, what would be the reasons for rejecting you? Well, how about we start with how angry he'll be that you kept a secret like this from him; or how about the fact that he's god's knows how many years older than you; or what about the possibility that he's still not completely over Kitka; and of course we can't forget the detail that he is a _Captain_ and you are just a _private_.' Private shook her head as her conscious reprimanded her.

In an attempt to distract herself, Private turned to watch the vets converse with each other.

"So how do we do this? Do we just choose one at random and lock them in a cage overnight, or do we just let her choose on her own?" Shawna questioned as she picked up the female penguin and began stroking her feathers in the same manner that she did when they met. 'Back when I had that odd interspecies, female crush.' Private frowned, 'Must have been a phase I went through as I matured.' She thought.

Dr. Konda shook his head, "No, we'll let her choose her mate on her own. As it is, we can't be sure _when_ exactly she'll be ready."

Private clenched her eyes shut as she thought about her team and how she may have to leave them if the humans weren't pleased with her 'progress'.

'It's all over…' she thought, struggling to keep the tears from flowing.

She had worked so hard to make herself blend in with the guys, and now that effort was going to waste. It had taken her forever to find a suitable tone of voice that would be both passable for male and easy to maintain throughout the day, and don't even get her started on having to actually _act_ like a guy practically twenty-four seven!

Luckily, her Uncle Nigel was more than happy in helping keep her gender a secret, and had agreed to call her his 'nephew' instead of his 'niece'.

It wasn't a machismo 'oh I'm going to have the niece I always wanted' sort of thing, it was more like 'oh you're going to be moving in with three full grown males? Of course I'll help cover for you' sort of thing. Of course this had been going on back when she was ' ', but things had gotten serious when Nigel found out she would be living on her own with three male penguins.

'_If you ever need anything, let me know. You'll be more than welcome to stay with me for a while.'_ Those were his last words, right before she was boxed up and transferred to New York.

'Perhaps I should take him up on his offer…or at least call him and see if he has any advice on what to do.' Private thought.

"Should I take her back to her habitat?" Shawna questioned.

"Yes, we're all done here." Konda stroked a finger over Privates' small head, "Good luck little one." He gave her a final smile before Shawna turned and made her way back to the penguin habitat.

As they approached HQ, Private saw Skipper, Kowalski and Rico watching her from their artificial iceberg. She was relieved to see that the zoo was still crowded with people, which had prevented the trio from sneaking out of the exhibit and eavesdropping on the vets.

Upon arriving at the penguins' home, Shawna gently dropped Private into the water surrounding the iceberg before waving, "Bye-bye cutie!" she said as she turned and made weaved her way around the guests and back to the vet's office.

Private meanwhile, had already hoped up onto the 'berg and was shaking off the cool water from her feathers.

It didn't take long for the rest of her flock to surround her, "Everything okay Private?" Skipper asked while eyeing the vet's office with suspicion.

Private swallowed, "Aye Skippah, just a small checkup is all." She gave what she hoped was a cheerful smile.

Kowalski put a flipper to his beak, "Odd…they usually group us together for those…and even then, we just _had_ our yearly routine checkup a few months ago." He pondered while Rico nodded in agreement. Private began to panic,

"Oh…well…apparently they lost my files and had to take my information again." She lied.

Everyone was silent before, "Typical humans. So unorganized about everything, _but_ I guess that's mammals for ya." Skipper shrugged dismissively.

Private nearly fainted from relief when the males fell for that fib.

"Now smile and wave boys, we're eating fresh fish tonight!" Skipper ordered as several guests approached for penguin feeding time.

Private gave a genuine smile. She was safe…for now.

'Perhaps I'll make a call to Uncle Nigel later on tonight." She thought as he eyes widened with glee at the wave of fish coming towards her and her team.

**A/N: Yeah I don't think it's the female penguins that do the mating calls, but I figured that it would be fun to have female Private express her urges by sneaking out in the middle of the night and giving out a few good mating calls. ;) **

**Character names: Dr. George Konda- this is the vet we see in the series, however since he is not given any name, I decided to make one up myself. **

**Mr. Gates is a random security guard I made up that works at the zoo.**

**Anywho, let me know what you think and chapter 2 should be up soon. :) **


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Wow! Big thanks to the people that review, followed, liked and so on, you guys are great! :D **

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Penguins of Madagascar series and I'm in no form making any money off of this. It's just for the plain enjoyment of fans.**

The rest of the day had gone by without any other incident or mention of Private's seemingly random vet appointment. This was actually a surprise to the penguin since she was half expecting Marlene to burst in the second she got a chance, and ask what was going on. 'I guess the busy day kept everyone distracted.' She reasoned with a mental shrug.

After the zoo closed down for the day, and all the humans were gone, the penguins even brought out their ninja bowling pins and engaged in their usual evening training for a couple of hours. Once they tired themselves out, they went down to their living quarters and had a peaceful dinner…well, as peaceful as it could get since Rico was such a noisy eater.

Despite this, Private managed to get through dinner and the day, and as she sat and watched the Lunacorn show, she thought about what she would tell her uncle later that night. No doubt he would want to either come for a 'visit' or have _her_ go to him, in which she wasn't sure which of the two she preferred…or even wanted. In truth, she didn't want to be a hassle, she just wanted someone to talk to and get quick advice. Her uncle was an incredibly intelligent penguin, next to Kowalski, and he would know the next step she should take regarding her current mating predicament.

However…if he really insisted on being near her for a while, then she wouldn't deny him…she could use the extra comfort and protection. The only problem would be the cover story as to why she was asked to go all the way to England or why Nigel needed to return.

Private wrapped her flippers around her stuffed Lunacorn as she pondered this. 'I think for now, a talk is all I need'. She mused.

The youngest member jerked out of her thoughts when her show was replaced with loud music and images of monster trucks.

"Sorry young Private, but monster trucks outweigh Lunacorns big time." Skipper announced as he, Kowalski and Rico sat beside the secret female.

"But my program wasn't over yet!" she complained. They always did this…now she understood how human females felt about older brothers.

Skipper smirked at her, and Private felt herself freeze. Why did his smile have to be so mesmerizing? And _why_ did she always find him so irresistible whenever he gave her that look? And it wasn't the first time she felt this way…it had been like this since she arrived at the zoo four years ago…when she was only sixteen…

"Should we test the power of democracy _again_?" the penguin in question challenged, tapping the remote against his flipper in a taunting manner.

Private sighed in frustration, "No Skippah I get it." She stood up and made her way to the ladder.

"Where you goin'?" Rico grunted out.

"I'm just gonnna go for a swim." Private replied while climbing the ladder.

"Don't stay out too late soldier." Skipper warned.

"I won't sir." Private assured before leaping out of the headquarters and covering the entrance with the fish bowl.

Just as she turned, she gave a startled yelp. Apparently Marlene had decided to make a visit and had 'snuck' up on Private when she wasn't looking.

"M-Marlene," her eyes widened when she realized her voice sounded a little too high for a male, and quickly cleared her throat before lowering it to the lower, more familiar pitch, "you scared me!" she placed a flipper on her chest in an attempt to settle her pounding heart. Normally she wasn't _that_ easily startled, but since she had a lot on her mind lately…

Marlene rubbed the back of her neck, "Oh sorry about that. I actually didn't think you guys were that easy to sneak up on." She gave an apologetic smile.

Before Private could say anything, the scraping sound of a fishbowl was heard, and Skipper poked his head out of headquarters, "Everything alright up here? I heard a scream." He looked at Marlene when he said this.

The otter nodded, "Yeah everything's cool, and for the record, it wasn't me…it was him." She pointed to Private, who flinched when Skipper turned his attention to her.

"Was it now? I mean, I could have sworn it was Marlene that screamed." He looked up at Private with an amused look.

Private blinked, "…you thought I sounded like a…girl?" No, no, _no_, he couldn't find out her secret _now_!

Skipper laughed, "Well if it really was you, then _yeah_, you scream like a _girl_!" Marlene hid her giggle behind her paw.

Private tensed, "I'm _not_ a girl." She stated defensively. Her tone caused the two to stop their laughter and Skipper put up a flipper in defense,

"Easy soldier, I never _said_ you were…I just said that you _sounded_ like a female."

"No I don't!" Private argued quickly.

Sensing the tension, Marlene decided to intervene, "Alright guys, let's all just relax, go down and watch some monster trucks, hmm?" she looked between the two penguins.

Skipper nodded, "Alright, but Private's not going to be joining us."

Marlene raised a brow, "Why not?"

"Oh you know him, he's all caught up on all that magic and rainbows and Lunacorns stuff." This caused the two to laugh at the penguin's expense once more.

Private crossed her flippers as the two went down the ladder to watch the show. Once the fishbowl covered the entrance once more, she turned and dived into the pool surrounding her home.

That was _way_ too close of a call to easily bush aside! How could she be so careless? Getting so defensive over something so minor was a surefire way to arouse suspicion and she was extremely lucky that Marlene had intervened when she did and that Skipper dropped the issue so quickly. Hopefully the leader wouldn't want to look further into the issue as too why Private had gotten so upset with being called a female.

'Surly he would assume it was a 'masculine' defense I was putting up…after all, I'm sure he would get upset if someone were to accuse him of being a female, especially since he _knows_ that he's male. As far as I know, he still thinks I'm male…that's what the DNA told him…there's no reason to panic.' Private thought in an attempt to comfort herself. Luckily it was working.

She resurfaced for a quick breath of air before diving back under the water, where she could relax and sort out her thoughts.

The first thing that came to mind was Marlene.

Marlene was inside the HQ watching some monster truck rally on the telly with the rest of the guys. She could admit that watching over sized cars crushing smaller ones was pretty entertaining, but she would always like the Lunacorns more. Yes it was childish and appealed more to the female crowd, but that was why she enjoyed the franchise so much. Not only did it appeal to her more down-to-earth nature, but it also served as an escape from the masculine life she was forced to live every day. It was nice to see messages of friendship and peace and colors as compared to her violent, commando comrades and the grey home she lived in.

It was _nice_ to secretly give in to her feminine side and just _enjoy_ 'girly' stuff…even if it meant being labeled as a 'weirdo' or a 'baby' or even a 'pansy'…oh yes…Private had heard Rico grumble that word a few times under his breath. This was usually done whenever she talked about the Lunacorns or tried to opt for a more peaceful, non-violent strategy or solution while they were on a mission or working to solve a problem in the zoo.

Yes it hurt to hear those words come not only from other animals, including her own team, but she wasn't going to change. She may look, sound and act like a male, but she was still female on the inside, and she figured that she deserved to enjoy a little Lunacorns every once in a while, thank you very much!

She went to the surface, to a deep breath, and dived once more.

The thing that drove her crazy about it all was that even as a female, she felt that her interests and views on life were a little _too_ 'fairy tale based'.

At first, she had blamed it on her femininity, but then Marlene came along and she was surprised how different she was to the other female.

True Marlene had here womanly quirks and such, but it wasn't as bad as Private. _She_ actually had a natural attraction to guy stuff…like monster trucks. Private on the other hand, was more of a learned type of liking.

Before moving to New York, back when she was able to actually _be_ a girl, she had no problem owning a pink pillow and blanket or sprinkling a bit of glitter on her drawings or having tea parties with her uncle…back when he was pretending to be eccentric.

Private went up for a third breath of air.

Those had been the good ol', carefree days…then she came here and not only did she have to act like a boy, but she also had to adjust to the military life style.

Her thoughts roamed back to when she first arrived at the central park zoo and met what were now her superiors. Imagine her surprise when she discovered that they were a type of 'elite' soldiers and that she would be recruited as part of the team once she turned eighteen. Since she was only sixteen at the time, she was considered a 'trainee' and received the nickname 'Cadet'. It wasn't until her eighteenth birthday that her name was changed to 'Private' and she became an official soldier.

That name seemed to sum up her life pretty good. For her sake, she couldn't reveal much about her past life, her gender or even her _name_. It was all _private_.

'How ironic.' Private thought as she finally leapt out of the water, shaking off the liquid from her silky feathers. Not wanting to go back inside yet, she laid on her back and stared up at the now dark sky.

Despite everything she's been through these past four years, it seemed Mother Nature wanted to make things even more difficult for her.

For the most part, Private _wanted_ to just go down right now and confess everything, even if it meant facing an uproar…she just wanted this guilt and anxiety to go away. The only thing holding her back was the unknown of what Skipper would do if she told him the truth.

Rico and Kowalski, she knew would have probably been surprised, but in the long run, they would be okay. Skipper on the other hand was unpredictable…for all she knew, he would most likely start yelling and give her an earful on how she had deceived him and the team and so on and so forth.

What scared Private was the thought that he would possibly go as far as to kick her off the team. She swallowed.

Skipper, while _usually_ nice and charming to the ladies, had the mentality that women were inferior to men, thinking that they were weak and needed protecting and all sort of rubbish. To put it in a harshly blunt manner, Skipper was a bit sexist.

Marlene was probably the only exception he would make on his views, and though Private has obviously proven herself worthy of being on the team, she still had doubts that Skipper would allow her to remain. It was just a feeling she had in her gut.

The sound of the fishbowl moving caught the penguins attention, and she turned to see Marlene crawling out of the underground den.

"Hey, the rally's over, and Skipper wanted me to tell you that it's time for bed." She announced while standing up. Private stood up as well,

"Oh, thank you Marlene." She acknowledged.

Marlene tilted her head in concern, "Are you alright?"

"I'm sorry?"

The otter shrugged, "It's just…you seem, I don't know…like your bothered by something."

Private shifted. Should she tell her? Could she trust the otter? Marlene was one of her closest friends, but…

'No I'm not ready to tell her or anybody.' She thought before giving her trademark smile, "No, I'm fine. Just tired is all."

Marlene regarded her for a second, "Alright if you say so. I'll see you later then?"

"Oh yes of course! Good night!" Private replied as she crouched down to enter her home.

"Good night!" Marlene called back just as Private covered the hole with the fishbowl.

Her team mates were already getting ready for bed themselves. She glanced at the clock and saw that it was a little past nine o'clock.

Knowing that London was five hours ahead from New York, Private was able to calculate a good time to message her uncle.

'It's nine here, so it's two back home…he says he's usually up by five or six so…I suppose I'll give him a call around one a.m. That way I'll be sure everyone's fast asleep.' Private planned.

"Did you get a good workout Private?" Skipper questioned as he hopped up to his bunk.

Private nodded, "Yes, it was very relaxing." She answered.

"Good to hear! Now let's get some shut eye men. We've got early morning training tomorrow."

"Good night Skippah!"

"Good night sir!"

" Night!" Came the chorus from the three penguins.

"G'night boys." The leader replied as they all laid in their bunks and fell asleep.

**Penguin HQ. 0100 Hrs**

Private cautiously climbed out of her bunk, choosing to go down the ladder rather than leaping from the bunk like she normally did. It would be quieter that way.

Once on the ground, she tiptoed away from her sleeping 'brothers' and approached the door that lead to Kowalski's lab. From there, she could use the computer to contact her uncle.

Carefully opening the door, Private slipped into the room before turning and shutting it ever so gently.

Breathing a sigh of relief, she turned and made her way to the computer on the far wall. She made sure to turn down the volume before logging on and hitting the contact button with her uncle's name on it.

'Please be awake…' she prayed as she watched the small icon on the screen that resembled a vibrating phone with the word 'Connecting' flashed beneath it. This went on for a few seconds before the image of her uncle appeared on screen.

"Private?" He sounded like he had just woken up.

Private made a shushing motion with her flippers while glancing at the door. No sound came from the other side, and she assumed that her team was still asleep.

"Hello Uncle Nigel." She greeted in a whisper.

Catching on, the older penguin leaned closer to the screen and whispered back, "What are you going up so late lad? It's got to be at least one in the morning where you're at."

Private let out a shaky breath and dropped his masculine tone, "It was the only time I can speak to you about…something personal." She said in a hushed tone. Even without her male pitch, she still carried her natural British accent.

Nigel perked up, "About what? Is it serious? Was your team unable to help you?"

Private hesitated before looking up at her relative, "I was brought into the vet for a visit yesterday…" she paused, causing her uncle to nod his head, "Alright…was something wrong?" he asked in concern, a worried look etched on his face.

"…they say I'm ready to start breeding…" she said softly.

Nigel shifted in discomfort, obviously not too keen on thinking about his young niece going through the act of becoming a mother. His eyes shifted around Private, "Are you alone?"

"Yes everyone's asleep."

"Good, now lass, I think we both know you reached breeding age two years ago-"

"But this is different Uncle!" Private interrupted.

"How so?"

Private rung her flippers together nervously. How could she put this gently? "I've…been…having these…urges lately."

Nigel blinked and shifted in discomfort again.

"I mean, my mind says 'no', but my body says 'yes', and I don't know how to control it! I'm not ready to become a mother!" Private explained as she began to pace back in forth in front of the large screen.

"I thought you loved children." Nigel stated, trying to think of a way to calm his niece.

Private nodded, "I _do_, I really _do_, and I'm not saying that I _don't_ want children in the future, it's just that this is all happening so fast! I-I-I mean I _just_ got here four years ago and I'm just getting the hang of things b-b-but now _this_ started happening a-an-and…" she ranted while flapping her flippers around as she paced, her voice cracked at the end and tears threatened to spill over.

"Victoria…"

Private, or Victoria, froze upon hearing her uncle use her birth name. No one had called her by her real name in so long!

She turned to her uncle, who continued, "I want to make you feel better, but I have to know…are you only upset about having an egg and becoming a mother, or is there something more you haven't told me lass?"

Private wiped her eyes, "It's not just the egg…it's the whole mating issue! The humans said I have to either mate with Rico, K'walski or Skippah, or they would send me to another zoo! Uncle Nigel, I _can't_ mate with a penguin I've never met, but at the same time I _can't_ mate with my team either! I don't know what to do! I don't want to leave but it's not like I can tell them that I've been lying to them for the past four years!" By now the tears had begun to roll down her cheeks and Private was now letting out soft sobs.

Nigel watched his niece breakdown in front of the screen and it tore him to see her like this, "Shh, shh, shh, lass, it'll be alright…" he tried to sooth. Private shook her head,

"No…they're going to be so _angry_…"

"No, no lass, they won't…not if you explain what's going on." Nigel reasoned.

"I don't want them to see me any differently." Private sniffled.

"It's a minor change. They've known you for four years, what's a gender difference going to hurt?" The older penguin gave a comforting smile.

Private shook her head, "You don't know Skippah the way _I _do uncle."

Nigel was silent for a moment, "I'm leaving in a few hours for a mission and I won't be back for a week…if things haven't gotten any better on your end of the pond by then, you're more than welcome to come stay with me for a while." He offered.

Private smiled, "That would be great Uncle Nigel!"

The dark faced penguin gave a smile of his own, "Good to see you smile again Victoria. Now, I think you should be getting to bed, and _I_ should finish getting ready to leave."

"Alright uncle, I'm sorry to have bothered you…I hope I didn't delay you too much." Private apologized. Nigel waved his flipper dismissively, "Oh don't worry about it lass, I'm more concerned about you getting enough sleep…I know that leader of yours likes to be up early."

Private rolled her eyes, "Yes he does. Good bye Uncle Nigel, and good luck on your mission!"

"Good bye Victoria, and for now in regards to your situation, perhaps you can tell someone you trust if you really don't want to tell your team." He gave one last smile before the screen went blank.

Private logged off and shut down the computer before leaving the room.

Glancing at the clock, she saw that it was already two in the morning, which meant she could still get in three hours of sleep before Skipper woke them all up.

As she crawled back under her covers, she thought about what her uncle suggested. Perhaps it _would_ be a good idea to share her secret with someone.

After thinking it over, Private finally figured out whom she would tell.

'I just have to find an excuse to leave for a few moments tomorrow.' Private thought before falling asleep once more.

**A/N: So who do y'all think Private's gonna talk to? I already have the person figured out, but I wanna hear y'all's theories. :)**

**Note: In regards to animal ages; in the films, they seemed to follow standard uh…animal aging (?) in regards to how much an animal ages in a year (by ten years Marty was considered to be middle aged) but in the series, it is hinted that animals age the same way humans do…Buck Rockgut was in hiding for forty something years…very long lifespan for a penguin. I think I also read somewhere that one of the animators said that Private was twenty years old…**

**So I'm going by human years for the animals which should be much of a shock since magic and stuff exists in their universe and what not. ;) **

**Chapter 3 should be up shortly!**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Sorry for the wait, I was **_**really**_** busy with finals and such, plus I'm getting ready to graduate tomorrow, so it was a very crazy week for me. :P**

**And of course, thanks for the review, follows and fav's, they really make my day! :D Now on to chapter 3!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Penguins of Madagascar. All characters belong to Dreamworks and Nickelodeon studios. **

"Alright boys, up and at em'!"

Private groaned at the sound of Skippers voice. She was starting to regret waking up in the middle of the night. She turned to face the wall while snuggling her face against the pillow, tugging her blanket up to her chin. 'Five more minutes…' she thought to herself.

"Rise and Shine Private!"

The youngest member felt the blanket get yanked off her, and she curled up as the cool air hit her feathers. Her pillow was the next to go, and she yelped as her head hit the concrete that was her bed.

"Come on, on your feet soldier! I don't want to have to tell you again!" Skipper barked. By now he didn't sound too happy, and Private sluggishly rolled over, waited for Skipper to move out of the way, and hopped down to the ground.

She gave a yawn and rubbed her eyes with her flippers, "My apologies Skipper, I didn't get much sleep last night."

The commander raised a brow, "Having bad dreams again?"

"…Something like that." She replied. This whole thing seemed like a bad dream.

Skipper shrugged, "Well as sorry as I am to hear that, we still have a schedule to keep too, and that schedule involves us heading up and starting our early morning training." He moved towards the ladder, "Better get a move on, Kowalski and Rico are already up top waiting for us." With that, he climbed out with Private close behind.

Once out of HQ, Private saw that it was still dark out with only the faintest of light starting to peak over the various skyscrapers that surrounded the zoo.

She really hated these early morning training sessions, but it was practically the only time they got to do so since the team spent most of the day acting cute and cuddly for the zoo visitors. The only other time to train was in the evening or when there were slow days, but no one knew when those were.

Private was brought out of her thoughts when Skipper spoke up, "Alrighty boys, first order of business is fin to fin combat. Rico, you pair up with Kowalski."

The mow hawked penguin nodded and gave a devious smile at the tallest bird.

"Oh great…" Kowalski grumbled.

Skipper turned back to Private, "Private, you'll be paired up with me. Begin!"

Automatically, Rico tackled Kowalski and pinned him down, a triumphant smirk on his beak.

As Kowalski kicked off the larger penguin, Skipper began to circle Private, his sapphire eyes scrutinizing the smallest team member, searching for a weakness. Then in a flash, he dropped down and drop swept her off her feet, causing Private to land on her back with an 'oof'.

Well that hurt…

Skipper smirked down at her, his flippers on his hips, "Always be on the defense young Private." He held a flipper out to help her up.

What happened next, Private should have seen coming. As she reached up to take his offered appendage, she gasped when he quickly took hold of her before turning and pinning her to the ground. "And never let your guard down."

It only took a second or two for Private to assess the situation she found herself in, and had she been a mammal and capable of doing so, she would have blushed at the _very_ suggestive position she and Skipper had landed in.

She was lying flat on her belly with Skipper standing right behind her, his flippers held one of her own in a slightly painful and uncomfortable position while one of his feet was placed firmly on her back, keeping her down.

Instinct started to kick in, and in her primal haze, she arched her neck back and was about to raise her tail when she suddenly snapped out of it and she quickly lowered her head again, hoping that Skipper hadn't noticed the odd display. She had to get him off…_now_!

"Skippah, you're hurting me!" she whined. It wasn't exactly a lie since the flipper he had pinned behind her was starting for feel sore from the odd angle.

The captain did as asked and allowed the young penguin to stand up once more. Obviously, had hadn't noticed her strange behavior as the only thing he said was, "Let's try that again young Private."

The next couple of hours went by quickly as the unit continued their training.

Eventually, it was time for the zoo to open, and the team was forced to go into their 'cute and innocent' mode.

It had been a pretty slow and boring day with only a few visitors here and there. In all, it was a rather dull day…at least until a small family stopped by the penguin exhibit.

"Aww, look at the cute penguins Kelly!" The grown woman of the group cooed.

A little girl, no older than five, peered through the bars at the water birds. After a moment, she tilted her head, "Which ones are the boys and which ones are the girls?" she asked innocently. The birds stiffened.

'Oh no not _this_ again!' Private panicked.

The father of the family shrugged, "I don't know…I heard it's hard to tell with penguins."

'Please leave, please leave, please leave…' Private prayed silently, wishing that the family would move already. To her horror, Alice, who must have been incredibly board, approached the habitat and leaned and placed a hand on the railing.

"We've actually got three boys and one girl." She informed, having heard the girls question. Kowalski scoffed and shook his head. "Little do _you_ know." He mumbled with a cocky smirk.

The human child looked up at Alice, "Which one's the girl?"

'Why does it matter?!' Private thought frantically.

The next moment seemed to happen in slow motion as Alice pointed a finger right at her, "That one." She stated.

Private's eyes widened and she felt as if she could just die then and there.

"Oooh…does she have any babies?"

'Oh _bloody hell_…Dear God…Zeus…Odin…_someone, _please kill me now!' Private's heart was pounding against her ribcage. It was incredibly rare for her to say, much less, have this sort of language, but when one is in the heat of the moment, you'll be surprised as to what can come out.

Alice shook her head, "Nah, no kids yet."

The family remained for a while longer before moving on to the next exhibits while Alice left to do who knows what.

Once the humans were gone, the three males all turned to Private before they all burst out laughing,

"Oh this is too good! Private! They think _you're_ the girl!" Kowalski howled through his laughter before doubling over from the humor. Rico joined in, "Girl!" he teased while pointing at the surprised female. Even Skipper seemed to be having a good laugh,

"Oh, tough luck Private, but that's what happens when you obsess over stupid things like rainbows and unicorns and whatever else it is you go on about." He chuckled and wrapped a flipper around his subordinate. He shook his head in dismissal, "Too bad we have to disappoint though. Seeing as we're all male, they'll be no kids from us, right boys?" he looked between the team.

Private blinked. They seriously didn't believe Alice? That was great!

She quickly nodded along with her comrades, "That's right Skippah, no little ones from us!" she played along, giving a good natured smile.

Skipper gave another chuckle while patting Private on the back, "Nope, no females, no kids. Now, I think things have slowed down enough, how about we head down for lunch?"

Rico perked up, "Yeah! Fish!" he cheered while kicking the fishbowl aside and jumping down the hole while Kowalski following close behind.

Private however hung back. Now would be the perfect time to leave and meet up the zoo resident she decided she would share her secret with.

"You coming soldier?" Skipper asked while waiting at the entrance. Private shook her head, "Actually Skippah, I was planning on having tea with Marlene today."

Skipper shrugged, "If you insist…just stay out of humans view. The last thing we need is for Alice to make a big deal about one of us being out of our habitat again." He instructed before leaping down the hole.

Private covered the entrance before summersaulting out of the enclosure.

Checking to see of the coast was truly clear, she tobogganed towards Marlene's home, where she leapt up and over the wall with ease.

The otter jumped slightly when the flightless bird landed next to her.

"Well know I know her you felt when I scared you last night." Marlene muttered as she turned away from her lunch.

"My apologies Marlene, but I just _really_ needed someone to talk to." Private apologized.

Marlene raised a brow, "The other guys didn't feel like talking?"

Private shook her head, "No, it's not that…it's just…what I have to say is _very_ personal, and I think it's something I can only share with a female…" she looked into Marlene's brown eyes, hoping that the mammal wouldn't mind having a quick talk.

"Oh, well, I guess that's okay…should we talk out here, or go inside?" she pointed to her cave entrance.

"Inside if you will."

The two entered the otters home before Private spoke up once again, "And for the record, I told Skippah that we were having tea today…just in case he asks."

"Oh okay." She sat on her bed, and motioned Private to join her. The penguin did so slowly, thinking about how to go on about this.

"So what's on your mind?"

Private let out a deep breath. It was now or never.

"Before I say anything, you have to swear _not_ to tell anyone, especially not Skippah, K'walski or Rico…got it?" Her tone was so serious; Marlene had no choice but to nod slowly.

Nodding in satisfaction, Private let out another slow breath before, "Marlene…I haven't been completely honest with any of you." She said softly. Marlene tilted her head,

"What? You mean your accent really is fake?"

Private's head jerked up, "What? No! That's not what I was going to say, plus, I've told everyone before, _this is how I really talk_…sort of…"

The incredulous look Marlene gave her, compelled the penguin to continue.

"I…I-I'm…" she took another calming breath, "I'm a…female…"

Silence.

Marlene gave a sarcastic laugh, "Oh ha ha, very funny."

Private swallowed, "It's true, Marlene." She dropped her male tone and allowed her female voice shine through, much like how she did when she spoke to her uncle the night before.

Hearing the new tone caused the otter to pause. "Seriously?" For all she knew, Private could be faking the voice.

Private nodded, "I swear I wouldn't fib about this! I really am a girl!" she instead. Honestly, why would she lie about something like this?

Marlene narrowed her eyes, "If that's true, then why are you telling me this _now_?"

"Because I can't keep it a secret by myself any more, and you're the most reliable person I know! Plus stuff has been going on with me, and the humans know that I'm officially ready to start mating and the need to actually mate is getting so strong and to be honest, I _almost_ mated with Skipper this morning!"

The den was eerily quiet as Marlene stared at the female penguin in shock, "…you…'almost' mated with Skipper…how…?"

Private sighed, "We were training earlier this morning, he knocked me onto my belly, and then he was on top of me-"

"Ah, okay stop, I get it." She put her paws up in emphasis. She _did not_ need that image in her head. "So, you're serious about this?"

"I would never joke about something so serious in my life." Private assured.

Marlene sighed, "And how do the guys not know? Didn't y'all do a DNA test not too long ago?"

"I've kept it a secret for the past four years, plus the test made an error that even K'walski didn't pick up."

"Wow."

"Mmm-hmm."

Marlene furrowed her brows, so Private really was a female? Interesting.

"So why did you lie to them in the first place?"

Private sighed again. She'd done that a lot this meeting, "Because when I first arrived I was just a teenaged girl and the only thing I knew about my new flock was that they were all fully mature males, and no females…I had no idea what they would do to me if they knew I was a _girl_. After that, I just kept the secret and never told anyone."

"And you don't think that Skipper deserves to know since he's your commanding officer and whatnot?" Marlene questioned.

"You and I both know Skippah's views on females. If anything, he'd make a big scandal of it all. He doesn't think women belong on his team…he thinks they can't handle it." Private rolled her eyes.

Marlene frowned though she had to agree with her fellow female, "But you seem to handle things pretty well."

"Thank you, but if you recall, I'm still technically the weakest of the unit. If Skipper found out, he'll automatically say something like 'oh that explains a lot. I always knew females were the weaker gender'".

Marlene had to agree with Private there. Skipper _was_ pretty old fashioned.

Despite this, the otter couldn't help but feel thrilled at this news, "You know…this is great!"

Private cocked her head, "Excuse me?"

"Now that I know you're a girl, we can totally hang out more! I can finally have a BFF and have girls' night out and all that fun stuff!" Her eyes lit up at the thought.

"Well I'm glad this is convenient for _you_, but I'm still in a rut here." The newly revealed she-commando crossed her flippers.

"What's the problem?"

"Well like I said, the humans know I'm ready to start a family, and now they're expecting me to do so…if I don't, I run the risk of being transferred out of here! And I am _not_ doing any such acts with my team!" Private said defiantly.

Marlene crossed her arms as well, "You sure about that?"

"Of course! Why wouldn't I be?"

"Well, you _did_ say you _almost_ mated with Skipper…"

"That was involuntary, and I was _lucky _he didn't notice! Besides, I only see him as my commander and friend… nothing more!" Private retorted. Why would Marlene suggest such a thing? What happened earlier was an accident, and she stood by what she said about Skipper only being her leader and pal…at least, she was _sure _ she did…

Unfazed, Marlene shrugged, "Alright, whatever you say." She was about to say something else when something caught her attention. She pointed to the entrance of her cave, "Hey isn't that you guys friend or something?"

Furrowing her brow, Private turned to look out the entrance and furrowed her brow further.

What was _she_ doing back here?

"I'm going to go check this out…I'll see you later Marlene." She announced getting up and putting on her male tone once more.

"Cool, I'll be here if you ever need anything!" Marlene called out, though Private was already out of the den, and was staring up at the familiar orange falcon flying over the zoo.

**A/N: Three guesses as to who the falcon is, though I think you'll only need one;)**

**Now, I'm not sure if you've all seen penguins mating, but what I've noticed about most species, is that the male literally stands on the female while mating, and in most of the images I've seen, the females are lying on their belly with their tails raised and their necks arched, hence why Private does this. **

**As always, thanks for reading and reviews are always welcome! :D**

**Chapter 4 coming soon, sit tight! ;)**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Alrighty, I was doing some thinking, and I've decided to expand this story. Originally, I was going to making this a short story with about ten chapters or so, **_**but**_** after thinking it over and brainstorming and what not, I thought up of a big ol' adventure Private can go through while dealing with her adult issues (hence the small change in the summary). While this story goes on, I've decided to add in some other surprises throughout the tale which would fit in with the title. As of now, I've got most of the story planned out, including the ending which will lead to a sequel. Yay! :D**

**Now enough talk about that; On to chapter 4!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Penguins of Madagascar. It belongs to Dreamworks/Nickelodeon. **

'Why would she come back to the zoo? It's not like she and Skippah are still talking or like they're seeing each other again…were they?' Private thought, pausing for moment when the last thought entered her mind. Surely her Captain would have said something if he had resumed his romantic affair with the Peregrine falcon. But then again, it _was_ his personal life, and truth be told, his love life really wasn't anyone's business.

However, if that raptor was here to make lunch out of some smaller zoo patron, then yes, it _was_ their business, so in Private's mind, she had every right to be suspicious. The predator had already tried to eat Fred, so there was no way the young soldier was going to let her attempt to do so again.

Gathering her courage, Private vaulted out of Marlene's habitat, and waddled out into the open, making sure that the carrot-orange falcon caught sight of her.

It wasn't long till the bird of prey spotted her, and swooped in for a graceful landing.

Kitka gave a smile that passed more of a smirk, as she towered over the flightless, monochrome avian; her dark wings folding neatly at her sides.

"Hello uh…Patrick…right?" she greeted, completely missing the penguins name.

"_Private_, actually." The water-bird corrected.

Kitka covered her beak in embarrassment, "Oh! I'm sorry!" she apologized.

Private didn't buy it, but placed a fake smile on her beak and shrugged, "It's alright. Just a small mix up is all." She reasoned in false assurance.

The falcon nodded, "Yes, sorry again…however, I'm assuming you're wondering why I'm here."

"I'll admit the thought did come up when I saw you flying around the zoo." Private admitted in her usual cheerful tone, though her posture was stiff and ready to pounce into action should Kitka try anything.

"Well, I was actually here to speak to Skipper. Is he around?" Kitka glanced towards the penguin headquarters.

"He is, but I don't think he really wants to speak to you at the moment. He's still none too happy about what you did to Fred." Private explained, hoping the bird would get the clue and leave. To her dismay, Kitka shook her head,

"I know; that's why I'm here. I just want to apologize for my actions."

Private crossed her flippers in thought. She really wasn't sure about Kitka's true motives, but whatever they were, surely Skipper could handle this better than she could since the falcon wasn't listening to her.

"…I suppose I can go fetch him…" Private hesitantly replied as she turned towards her home. "Wait here." She ordered and flipped over the rail and onto the island.

Pushing the fishbowl aside, she stuck her head down and called out for her leader, "Skippah! You've got a visitor asking for you!"

Said penguin looked up from the chess game he was engaged in. "Really? Who? It better not be ring-tail, cause if it is, you can tell him right now that I'm _not_ in the mood to deal with him right now." He turned back to the board.

"Oh no it's not him…it's…Kitka actually…she wants to have a word with you." Private explained.

The Captain furrowed his brow, "About what?"

"She said she wanted to apologize for Fred…other than that, I'm not sure."

Skipper paused before rising from his seat. "Alright, tell her I'm coming."

Private backed up as Skipper made his way towards her.

Turning, she saw that Kitka was already standing on the ice flow. The falcon smirked in victory as Skipper emerged, Kowalski and Rico peaked out from the hole and Private stood off to the side. The short male regarded Kitka with narrow eyes.

"Hello Skipper." She greeted.

"Kitka."

"It's been a while."

"Yeah, so are you here to make small talk, or are you actually going to apologize? If you are, then do so and be on your way." Skipper ordered as he crossed his fins.

Kitka's smile didn't falter, "Of course…I truly am sorry about almost eating your friend. I didn't realize that he was, well…your _friend_." She gave a sheepish grin.

Skipper frowned, "Did you apologize to _him_."

"Yes I have."

Skipper nodded, "Good. Anything else?"

Kitka stepped forward, "Yes," by now she was giving the penguin a seductive look that made Skipper's stern expression waver, "I've been missing you." She stated.

Private blinked. Seriously?

Skipper hesitated, "…did you?"

Kitka nodded, "I know that hurting your squirrel friend really upset you, and I want to make things right, but the only way I can do that is if you give us another chance." She moved even closer to Skipper, who swallowed.

"You want me to take you back?"

"Oh don't act like you didn't miss the good times we had." Kitka teased with a knowing smirk.

Kowalski and Rico watched with expectant stares, eager to see what their leader would do.

Private, was watching him intently, though for different reasons. 'Come on Skippah, you're not seriously going to fall for this _again_ are you?' she thought. There was the saying, _fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me_.

If things went wrong, that saying could definitely apply to Skipper. 'She's deceived us all before, and when she does it again, it will be your own fault.' Private thought as she fixed her hardened stare on the two birds.

To her surprise, Skipper stepped closer to Kitka, "You know to be honest…I've missed you too." He gave his ex a charming smile.

Private withheld a frustrated groan. He was going to do it.

"I suppose," Skipper continued, "it wouldn't hurt to give our relationship another try. Just know that I'm going to be keeping a close eye on you." He said this with a beaked grin.

Kitka giggled, "Oh I look forward to that."

She wiggled her brows in the same manner she had done when she had first met Skipper, and the penguin did the same in response.

Private glared.

Something didn't seem right with Kitka's sudden and random return. It had been months since the breakup, and not _once_ had she ever made an attempt to contact Skipper. Yet here she was apologizing for something she should have apologized long ago, and _flirting_ with him!

An expert in love, Private was not, but even she knew that ex's didn't come back into the picture unless there was something they really wanted. The falcon was up to something, and Private vowed she would find out what it was.

Yes, she would be keeping an eye on the falcon as well.

She was so caught up in her own thoughts, that Private hadn't notice the lustful looks in Skipper and Kitka's eyes. It wasn't until they started moving towards each other that Private realized what was about to happen.

Her cobalt eyes widened as their beaks inched closer, their eyes closed.

Giving a sideways glance to her two comrades, Private was surprised to see that they were watching with growing anticipation. Private turned back to the two 'lovebirds' and saw that they were even closer, their beaks just centimeters apart…

Just then, an unexplainable surge of jealousy racked through the young female, and before she could stop herself-

"Skippah!"

The two birds pulled away, and Skipper turned to her, an unamused scowl etched on his face, "Yes Private?" he hissed, irritated that he had been interrupted.

Private froze as all eyes bore into her.

The next few seconds were filled with awkward silence in which Private had no idea what to do next. She had managed to stop the two from kissing, though she wasn't sure why she even did so. Was it because she still didn't trust Kitka and didn't like the fact that Skipper was falling for her again? Or was it something else? What was the deal with the jealousy that she had felt just seconds ago?

Seeing that everyone was still staring at her, the young penguin scrambled for an excuse…to her horror, she couldn't find one.

"Uh…I forgot…" she gave an embarrassed grin, and twiddled her flippers.

Skipper rolled his eyes and gave Kitka an apologetic smile, "I think we'll have to continue this later…and somewhere with no distractions." He glared at his three subordinates.

Kitka chuckled, "Oh I look forward to that too." With that, she took off from the zoo, leaving the four penguins alone once more.

Once the Peregrine was out of sight, Private turned back to Skipper, "Sir…you're not really getting back together with her are you? Remember, she's not exactly the safest person to be around."

"Say's the penguin that made friends with a leopard seal." Skipper retorted. Private flinched. "Don't worry about _my_ personal love life." He added. He turned to the two penguins watching from the HQ's entrance, "Nothing else to see here boys. Kowalski, I believe we have a game to finish."

The two dropped back down into their home with Skipper following.

Private stood by herself on the surface, her mind racing at what had just transpired. Things were just getting out of hand these past couple of days…

The vet visit, the mating urges, the talk with her uncle, her decision to talk to Marlene, and now Kitka's return and her and Skipper's repaired relationship…and to top it all off, she still didn't understand _why_ she had felt the surge of possession when she saw Skipper about to kiss Kitka.

Perhaps it was her instinct to protect her leader…or perhaps maybe it was a different reason…

'No, no, no…_blast_ these raging hormones!' She thought while making her way towards the HQ entrance.

It had been another long day, and Private was ready to just go down and relax. She would muse about this later.

**Location: Consolidated Amalgamated Building Rooftop**

Kitka circled once around her nest before landing softly. Upon arriving, a tiny head peaked up from the nest.

"So…did you find her? Was she there?" The voice belonged to a tiny raptor, a Pearl Kite to be exact.

Kitka regarded him, "She was there alright…not surprising."

"Was she still acting like a guy?" The smaller bird questioned in amusement.

Kitka nodded, "Yes, but that matters not…the point is she's still there and we can inform _him_ of her confirmed whereabouts."

The kite hoped up and spread his wings in preparation for take-off, "I'll send him a message that she's still here…what else should I tell him?"

"Tell him Trey, that I'll commence part two of our little mission." Kitka replied, a mischievous glint in her eye.

Trey scoffed, "At least _you're_ getting something fun out of it. You get a second chance to hook up with the guy of your dreams. Me? I get jack squat." He grumbled.

"Oh quite your complaining, you'll get something good in the end as well. But for now, let the others know that I'm working on breaking the little runt away from her platoon. It shouldn't take long for her to break…I got a pretty interesting reaction from her today, and I think it should only be a matter of days before we can send her to our little comrades." The falcon smirked. Yes this mission was going smoothly, and the sooner they got this little _penguin_ taken care of, the sooner Kitka's leader could move on with his primary objective.

Trey beamed in satisfaction before taking off from the nest.

Things were certainly about to get interesting.

**A/N: Well…there it is… the kickoff to the big adventure. **

**As always, thanks for reading, and please drop a review and let me know what you think. Reviews are always appreciated. :)**

**Also, for those waiting for Private's big reveal, hang in there…the boys will discover her soon, either by the next chapter or the following one…it's coming soon. ;) **

**Chapter 5 coming soon, hang tight! **


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Wow you guys are fast reviewers! I posted this last night, and I received about three review within the first hour! That's so awesome! :D**

**I'm really glad you guys are enjoying this story so much and it makes me so happy to hear that this story improves y'all's days so much! :)**

**Now heads up, there is gonna be some suggestive stuff in this chapter…nothing too graphic (this isn't an M rated fic), but I felt I should warn you anyway. I just really hope I don't scare you away from this fic because of it. :(**

**Other than that, I think y'all will like this chapter. It starts off a little slow, but the end should be worth it. :)**

**Now without further ado, I give you chapter 5!**

**Disclaimer: I sadly don't own Penguins of Madagascar. It belongs to the creative people of Dreamworks and Nickelodeon. **

**Time: 12:30 P.M following day. Location:** **Marlene's Habitat**

"Can you _believe_ he took her back? Just like that?" Private mused before she took sip from her tea. Unlike the previous day, she and the otter really were drinking tea this time, and Private had decided to share her thoughts of Kitka's return.

Training was over for the day and Skipper had allowed his team to do what they wished for the day.

"So what happened after she left?" Marlene inquired, taking a bite from a freshly baked cookie.

"Oh nothing much. Rico and I took a couple of turns around the zoo, making sure everything was nice and peaceful, then we joined Skippah and K'walski for our evening training session with our bowling pins. After that we had dinnah and then watched a movie before bed." Private recited as she thought back on the previous days activities. The day was so normal for the private that she nearly forgot all her problems and concerns.

Marlene perked up, "What movie did you all watch?" obviously she wanted to keep the conversation going.

Private shrugged, "Can't really recall the title…it was some action movie with giant alien robots. I didn't really pay much attention to it."

"I think I know what movie you're talking about! Transformers, right?" Marlene guessed with a snap of her fingers. Private nodded, "Yes that's the one."

She took another sip of her tea, "Those kinds of films don't appeal to me. Skippah likes them cause of all the action, Rico _loves_ the explosions going on throughout the flick, and K'walski is absolutely fascinated by the robots mechanics and what not. But me? I prefer a good comedy over action."

Marlene nodded, "Yeah I'm not too crazy about action or horror like those guys either. I'll watch them sometimes, but I'm _totally_ on board with you on the comedy thing."

The two went quiet for a moment after that.

"So…why _exactly_ are you upset about Kitka coming back? I mean I know it's kinda random that she swooped in out of the blue, but I didn't think _you_ of all people would be so suspicious." Marlene wondered. She had been surprised when Private's choice of topic was the falcon, and was even more surprised when the youngest member started complaining about Skipper agreeing to date her again.

Private remained silent and Marlene quickly apologized, "If it's private or personal or something you don't have to answer, I'm just curious."

Private waved a dismissive flipper, "No worries Marlene, I was just thinking over what to say." She sighed, "And to answer your question; I just _don't_ trust that girl…I don't know what it is about her, but something tells me she's up to something."

"Yeah she wants her boyfriend back." Marlene retorted as if it was the most obvious thing. Private frowned, "I don't know. There's _more_ to her motives, but I just don't know _what_. I can't shake the feeling that she's using Skippah…" she glared into her half full cup.

Marlene regarded the penguin before a look of realization swept her face, "…you like Skipper…don't you?"

Private looked up from her cup, her brows furrowed, "Again with this Marlene?" she deadpanned.

"Hey, I'm just thinking that's the only reason why you're so against Kita and Skipper hooking up." By now Marlene had a knowing grin on her face.

"_Marlene_…" Private warned.

"It's true! You're _jealous_ of Kitka!"

"Marlene keep your voice _down_, and _stop_ making claims that aren't true! Just because I'm female doesn't mean I'm developing crushes on my companions." Private picked up a sugar cube and tossed it at the otter, who just laughed.

"Who's got a crush on who?"

The penguin and otter's eyes widened and they swirled towards the entrance of the cave.

Private wasn't sure whether or not to be relieved.

Standing at the entrance were the two badgers that were Stacy and Becky. The two were looking at the two females, curiosity plastered on their faces.

'Bloody…hell…' Private cursed. How long had those mustelids been standing there? How much had they heard?

Marlene gave Private a worried look as the badgers fully entered the otter's home.

"So, _who's_ crushing on someone?" Stacy pestered, her blue eyes darting from Private to Marlene and back, flashing in excitement at the thought of getting in on the juicy gossip.

"No one!" Private's eyes widened once more. In her haste to answer, she forgot to cover her lady voice. She cleared her throat and deepened her voice, "I mean…no one."

Her attempted cover up was futile as the badgers had already heard her pitch the first time.

"Woah, what's going on with you?" Becky joked with a laugh.

"Nothing's going on with me." Private replied. Marlene gave her a knowing look. 'Drop the act.' Private read in the brown eyes.

Becky and Stacy were watching them intently, wondering what they were missing as they observed the bird and mammals silent conversation.

Finally, Marlene turned to her two 'cousins'. "Can you two keep a secret?" she asked seriously. The badgers perked up and nodded eagerly before leaning in closer, their eyes wide and glistening with excitement.

Marlene motioned Private to continue. The penguin gave a defeated sigh. "Before I say anything else, you have to promise…_swear_ to me, that you won't tell anyone what I'm about to tell you. _No_ gossiping!" she narrowed her eyes at the teenaged mammals.

Stacy and Becky responded by drawing an imaginary 'x' over their hearts before moving their paws to their mouths and performing the 'zipping and throwing away the key' motion.

Nodding in approval, Private let out another sigh, "Believe it or not…I'm actually a…female." She waited for the mammals response.

The badgers blinked once…twice, before large grins stretching from ear to ear, crept across their faces. They covered their mouths as to stifle their excited squeals.

Private and Marlene watched in awe as they did some sort of happy jig.

"Uh…" Private was totally lost. She wasn't expecting this sort of reaction.

"Yes! Another tally for the girl team!" Becky did a fist pump.

"Girl team?" Marlene repeated.

Becky nodded, "Yeah, I mean haven't you noticed that there's like twenty guys and only like eight girls? Well, _nine_ with Private." She pointed to the shocked penguin.

"The gender ratio is slowly evening out! That's one less gross, smelly guy in the zoo!" Stacy added.

'Is that really what all the female patrons think?' Private thought.

"Why is it that none of you ladies are as surprised as I thought you'd be?" she wondered honestly.

This time Marlene answered, "Well…I guess it's because it's not _that_ much of a shocker…I mean…you _were_ the most timid of your team."

"Yeah for a guy you were kind of wimpy…"

"And you're not exactly the strongest out of your friends."

"_Alright_ _I get it_! I passed as a wuss of a man." Private cut off and crossed her flippers over her chest. She would love to see them try it. It wasn't as easy as it looked.

Stacy put her paws up , "Okay, okay, we apologize for pointing out your flaws…we won't talk about it anymore."

"Thank you."

Marlene put her paws on her hips, "Why are you two here anyway?" she asked, feeling that it would be a good idea to change the subject.

Becky crossed her arms and leaned against the wall, "Well, we saw Private…ess…ette?" she looked over at the penguin for confirmation.

"My birth name is Victoria." The bird replied.

"Victoria? Really?" Marlene piped up, "That's a good name for you." The badgers nodded in agreement.

Private gave a genuine smile, "Why thank you."

Stacy decided to continue, "Any, we saw _Victoria_ heading over hear, and we figured that we can all hang out. Little did we know that we would get _this_ sort of surprise."

"Sorry for the shocker." Private apologized.

The badgers shrugged, "It's all good. Now…what were you guys saying about crushes?"

Private caught sight of Marlene's smirk and she held up a threatening flipper, "Don't. You. _Dare_!" she warned, "I already told you, that's _not_ what's going on."

Marlene ignored the threat and turned to the badgers, "Pri-Victoria has a crush on Skipper."

Private's beak dropped at how casually Marlene said it. "_No I don't!_" she hissed.

The badgers laughed before Becky wrapped an arm around the penguin, "Oh come on, whether it's true or not, _nothing_ will leave this cave. This is just us having fun girl time. Even if you do love your leader, we promised not to say anything, right Stacy?"

The red badger nodded happily.

Becky grinned, "See? Now, tell us about this 'crush' of yours."

Private sighed in defeat. There would be no convincing them otherwise. She figured she would let the three females think what they wanted, so long as no one found out what they were talking about.

'Especially not Skipper…he's the _last_ one I want walking in on our conversation.' She thought before refiling her tea.

**Time: 3:00 P.M Location: Penguin HQ**

Private leapt down into her home, looking around for her comrades. She had been at Marlene's much longer than she should have. Skipper had given her strict orders to return at 1300 hours, and it was well over one p.m.

Stepping further into the HQ, she was surprised to see it empty. 'I would have expected Skippah to be waiting to give me an earful for being late…as well as issuing a punishment.' She thought with a frown.

Looking around, she wondered where they were. She hadn't seen them on the way in, nor had she even spotted them while she was making her way back from the otter's home.

Perhaps they had gone on a quick mission? If so, why didn't they fetch her? They knew where she was.

'Odd...' She thought. She turned back to the ladder, intent on going up and waiting for her team, when she jumped with a small feminine yelp.

Now standing in front of her, was Skipper, a cocky smirk on his face. Busted.

'Wait…why didn't I hear him come in? Is he really that quiet?' Private pondered as she stepped away from her commander.

"Pardon sir, I didn't know you were behind me." She paused, "A-and I'm sorry for the tardiness as well…i-I'll take whatever punishment you give me." She stuttered. To her surprise, Skipper chuckled,

"Yes young private, I imagine you will." The leader replied, taking a step forward.

Private blinked in uncertainty while taking another step back. Looking around she wondered out loud, "Were is Rico and K'walski?"

"Out on recon." Came Skippers short reply.

"Oh…"

"And there was something very _interesting_ they overheard while at they passed Marlene's habitat." Skipper stepped towards her again.

Private's heart raced. They heard? _They knew_?! Her baffled expression must have been incredibly obvious since Skipper laughed once more. Why was he laughing?

She had expected lots of angry yelling and harsh words of betrayal and the like, but _laughing_? That had caught her off guard.

To make matters even more perplexing, Skipper raised a flipper and stroked it against her cheek.

'…_what!?_...'

"S-s-skippah?" she whimpered in uncertainty, pulling head away from the appendage. Her mind was reeling with thoughts and emotions. What had gotten into her leader?

"Shhhh…" he whispered pressing himself against her.

Private scurried back, nearly tripping over her feet. Her eyes widened when Skipper slowly followed her, a lustful look in his eyes.

"W-what are you doing?" she demanded while continuing to back up only for her back to meet their dining table. Skipper smirked like a hunter that had cornered his prey. Private gulped.

The older male leaned in, forcing the female to lead back until she was lying on the counter. He placed his flippers on either side of her, blocking her escape. She was full out panicking by now, and wishing that her other comrades would come in and save her…to end this crazy happening.

"You should have known I would have found out sooner or later." Skipper cooed before leaning his head down and nuzzling his cheek against hers.

Private placed her flippers against his broad chest and pushed. He didn't budge. "Skippah…p-please…you're scaring me…" she begged, dropping her masculine tone. He already had her figured out, why continue the charade?

Skipper gave the husky reply of, "Don't be." Before shifting to nuzzle her other cheek.

In an burst of strength, Private shoved him away, slid off the table and backed away from him once more. Skipper just continued to smirk.

"I don't know what's going on, but you're not thinking clearly." Private reasoned, her flippers up in defense, "A-and what about Kitka?" she tried desperately.

"What about her?" He closed the distance, though this time, he stood behind her and wrapped his flippers around her midsection. "I know you don't like her." He whispered in her ear and she shivered as his breath ruffled her feathers slightly.

"And I also know you had a thing for me back when you were sixteen…when you first got here." He continued.

Private frowned. She had never said anything like that to Marlene or Becky or Stacy…

"How did you-"

"You're easy to read young private." Skipper chuckled before nipping her neck feathers with his beak, causing the female to give a small gasp.

It was with that small action that caused the female's mind to cloud over and against her better nature, she leaned back against her commanding officer. Her mind screamed that this was wrong and to stop, yet her body refused to listen.

Her breathing quickened as she leaned forward to lie on the floor with Skipper following close behind. Despite the situation, her heart leapt in excitement when Skipper leaned forward and-

Private jerked awake with a start. Her eyes wide and her breath quick and ragged.

Looking around, she found the HQ dark and quiet, save for the loud snoring of the other troops, and the occasional grunts that sounded from Rico.

Placing a flipper on her chest, Private was finally able to control her breathing and calm her racing heart.

'It was just a dream!' she thought with relief. Glancing at the clock, she saw that it was only 11: 23 at night.

She frowned in confusion before the evenings memories came rushing back at her. She remembered that she really _had_ arrived late, and as a result, Skipper had made her swim fifty laps around the pool as punishment. After that, she was so tired that she skipped dinner completely and fell asleep instead.

Private gave as silent as a growl as she could. Not only had the other girls made her incredibly late, but all the talk about her and her potential crush on Skipper made her have that crazy, erotic dream.

She leaned back and stared at the top of her bunk. And the worse thing to top it all off? Her body didn't seem to get the memo that the dream was over and it was back in reality. In fact, it was as if it was urging her to call back the male she was 'supposedly' about to mate with.

The young soldier could feel the call bubbling up in her throat, just begging to be let out.

Private clenched her beak when she came to the frustrating conclusion that she was going to have to go out for a while.

Peaking over the edges, Private saw that the boys were all still fast asleep, and she took the opportunity to reach over to the ladder and scurry out of the HQ.

After quietly covering the entrance, she was alerted to the sound of soft talking coming from the lemur habitat.

An idea sprung into her head and wasting no time, she made her way to the lemur habitat.

As she expected, the three mammals were still awake and not too far from them was Julien's beloved boom box.

Excellent.

It only took seconds for Private to scamper up to the trio.

The instant Julien saw the penguin, he automatically went on the defense, "Woah tiny penguin, before you are to be saying anything, my boomy box is already on soft mode…see?" he held the device in front of Private's face and she could in fact here the soft music emitting from it.

"Yes Julien see uh…hear that." She nodded with a small smile.

Julien crossed his arms and stood as tall as he could, trying and failing to make himself look imposing, "Good, so you can be telling the bossy penguin to leave me alone!"

Private shook her head, "Well actually Julien, that's not why I'm here. I actually came to ask you to _raise_ the volume."

The ring-tail tilted his head, "Say what?"

"At least for a little while…just while I get something out of my system." Private assured.

The lemurs shared a look. "You…_want_ us to raise the volume? Are you sure?" Maurice questioned suspiciously.

Private gave a single confirming nod.

"Why?"

The young woman sighed, "It's really hard to explain-"

"Then I'm thinking maybe I won't do it." Julien replied.

Private balled her flippers at her sides. Her patience was running out and the urges were becoming unbearable. "Fine! I need you to make enough noise while I let out a few mating calls alright?!" she snapped.

The males regarded her with wide eyes.

'If they're shocked now, I can only imagine what their reaction would be if I told them I was a female.' Private thought.

"Ooookaaay…and what will you be giving me in return?" Of course Julien would want to make a deal out of this.

"I'll make sure Skippah won't yell at you or interrupt your parties for a week."

"Make it two and we have a deal."

Private sighed again. She really wasn't sure if she would be here for the next _two_ consecutive weeks, given she would probably take up her uncle on his offer, but she figured she could leave Julien an I.O.U.

"Alright fine." She agreed and shook the king's paw. "Just…don't tell Skippah or the others." She added.

Whether Julien heard the last part or not, Private didn't know as his only response was a hearty laugh, "Maurice, turn it up!"

The aye-aye shrugged and did as he was told, raising the volume to an annoyingly high level. Private pointed to one of the corners of the habitat, "I'll just be over there then!" she called over the music before sliding away.

If this was going to work as a cover up, she was going to have to be fast.

**Time: 11:45 P.M. Location: Penguin HQ**

Skipper growled as he buried his head under his pillow, his flippers pinning the small bedding over his ears.

After a moment, he tore it off his head and glared up at the entrance of his home.

It had been such a peaceful night until a few moments ago when the irritating music started.

"I thought I warned them to keep it _down_!" he rumbled.

"It would seem your words went in one ear and out the other." Kowalski stated from his bunk, obviously having been woken up as well.

Rico grunted in agreement.

Skipper rolled out of bed. "I guess we're going to have to go give that self-proclaimed, wanna be king _another_ reminder." He announced as he made his way up the ladder.

As he passed Private's bunk, he was surprised to see that it was empty.

"I guess he's already over there." Kowalski guessed as he and Rico followed their leader out the entrance.

**Time: 11:47 P.M. Location: Lemur Habitat**.

Julien laughed as he shook his tail to the music, ignoring the annoyed and angry shouts from the other zoo patrons to turn the music down.

He was so into his music that he didn't notice the penguins standing mere inches from him until Maurice tapped his shoulder and pointed behind him.

"Oh hello silly penguins!" he greeted casually.

"Ring-tail! Do you have _any_ idea what time it is?" Skipper barked.

"Party time?"

"No! It's almost _midnight_! Animals are _trying_ to _sleep_!" Skipper yelled while pointing to the tower clock for emphasis. "Turn off the music, or I'll turn it off for you!" he warned, glaring up at the taller mammal.

As the two argued back and forth, Kowalski swore he could hear something else going on in the back ground…a very familiar sound.

"Skipper," he said over the music.

"What?!" the captain barked back.

"I…I think I can hear a mating call."

Skipper gave the scientist a doubtful look, "You're hearing things Kowalski." He said dismissively.

"No really!" the tall penguin paused as if remembering something and looked around, "Where's Private?" had the young member heard the call and gone off to investigate it as well?

At the mention of the youngest member, Skipper turned back to Kowalski, though before he said anything else, he reached over and turned off the boom box.

"Hey!" came the protest of the lemur king.

Skipper ignored him and turned back to Kowalski, "What was that about Pri-"

He was cut off as the sound of a penguin mating call reverberated through the lemur habitat.

"Told you." The lieutenant retorted before frowning. "However…call me crazy but…that sounded _a lot_ like a _female_ mating call…"

Skipper turned in the direction the sound came from, "Private is going to have to wait, right now we need to check this out. Who knows, maybe Private might be there too." With that he led his troops in the direction of the calls.

The lemurs watched them go. "Did they say female?" Maurice wondered in confusion. The only penguin that had entered the habitat was Private and though he had admitted to be there to make some mating calls, he most _certainly_ wasn't female…or was he…?

Turning to Julien he motioned after the penguins, "Come on your majesty, I smell something fishy." He said before running after the birds.

"Oh it's just the silly penguins. They always smell like that." Julien replied though he followed after the aye-aye.

**Location: Far corner of Lemur Habitat**

Private was aware that the music had stopped. Whether it was due to dead batteries or someone coming and turning off or breaking the device, she didn't know. And at the moment, it seemed like she didn't care. Even without the cover up noise, her instincts still urged her to call out for a potential mate, and against her better judgment, she obliged.

'I'll just stay out for a few more moments…hopefully I'll tire myself out by then.' She thought as she gave another loud honk.

However, she never heard the approaching footsteps coming up behind her, what with her cries covering up any soft, nearly inaudible sounds. And since she was facing towards the wall, she didn't notice the stunned group of males staring at her as she sent out another invitation.

It wasn't till she paused to take a breath when the voice of the last person she wanted to hear, sounded out from behind her.

"_Private_?!"

Swirling around, she soon found herself staring into the eyes of six dumbfounded males.

She practically fainted when Skipper stepped forward and asked the question she had been dreading,

"What in Sam Hill is _going on_?!"

**A/N: Woo hoo! Finally the boys have discovered her only to be left with a cliff hanger! **

**I really hope I didn't scare anyone with the dream sequence…I just really needed something to urge Private to leave the base for a while. **

**Everyone's reaction will be revealed in the next chapter and that will definitely be the one to set this story into motion. **

**I also hope I got down Julien enough…he's kinda hard to write what with his accent and word placement. But hey, I guess he's good practice since I'm gonna introduce some characters with heavy accents later on in this story.;) **

**As I've said before and I'll say again; thanks for reading and reviews are **_**always**_** appreciated. :)**

**Chapter 6 will be up soon! Sit tight! :D**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Hey guys! Sorry for the wait, by birthday was on December 19****th**** (happy 24****th**** b-day to me :D) and as a result, I was out and about hanging with friends and family, so I didn't have time to write. Then of course there was the whole 'All Hail King Julien' series that came out on Netflix, and **_**that**_** kept me pretty distracted as well. **

**As a result, I made this a nice long chapter, which I hope you enjoy! :)**

**As always, thanks for the reviews for the last chapter, and on to the much awaited chapter 6!**

**Disclaimer: Penguins of Madagascar does not belong to me. It belongs to Dreamworks and Nickelodeon.**

**Time: Midnight. Location: Penguin HQ**

Private trembled where she stood, her eyes mimicking those of a deer caught in a headlight.

Before her stood three penguins and three lemurs that had managed to slip into the base. Despite the situation she was in, Private couldn't help but wonder why Skipper hadn't kicked them out by now. Perhaps it was the fact that he was more concerned with her. Emphasis on the word _'her'_.

Oh how the past few moments would replay in her head for years to come.

After Private had turned and heard Skipper's demanding inquiry, she could have sworn that time had either frozen or slowed down.

No one said anything else, nor did anyone move. They all just stared at her, and she could do nothing but stare back. Her mind racing, desperate to find an excuse that would pass for an explanation as to what she was doing or what they had seen and heard.

All thoughts had ceased when Skipper had pointed in the direction of their home and stated only two words.

"Base. _Now_."

The seriousness in his tone left no room for argument, and Private had no choice but to trudge to her 'doom' with the team and the curious lemurs following close behind.

Now here she stood, shaking like a leaf and gazing fearfully into the sapphire eyes of her captain.

Skipper was standing before her, his flippers crossed in front of his chest, a hard glare bearing into her, silently demanding an enlightenment of what he had just witnessed moments ago.

"Well soldier?"

Private flinched at the sharp tone. The light playful undertone that was usually present in his voice was now absent, and he now sounded like the high ranking commander he was.

Private gulped. She had seen Skipper angry before so seeing him so serious was nothing new. The only difference was that he would quickly get over it and would be back to his usual sarcastic old self once things had blown over. This had happened so many times that there were times that Private could hardly take him seriously sometimes.

_This _was not one of those times.

_This_ was not something she could laugh about later or make fun of behind his back like she usually did.

No. _This_ was much more serious, and he was treating it as so.

"I'm waiting for an answer!"

Private jumped as his voice rang out once more. His patience was wearing thin. She was going to have to start talking.

She opened her mouth but found she had no idea what to say. How should she start?

"I…I-I'm not…I don't…"

"Why don't we start with the…_noise_, you were making at the lemur habitat?" Skipper suggested, his eyes never leaving hers.

Private however, broke her gaze. She couldn't stand another second looking into those cold, hard eyes.

Her own eyes darted around the room and she caught sight of Rico and Kowalski. Rico had a look of bewilderment, his head tilted to the side as he silently observed her, while Kowalski regarded her with a thoughtful, calculating look. What he was actually thinking off, Private wasn't entirely sure. If she were to guess, she would assume that he was probably brooding over his discovery and was thinking back on Private's behavior, quickly putting the pieces together. He really was an intelligent bird.

Nearby, the lemurs watched on, worried looks plastered on their faces, even Julien's.

"Don't look at them, look at _me_ when I'm talking to you soldier!" Skipper barked once more.

There was no getting out of it, and there was no use in delaying her explanation any further. Private felt a punishment coming on if she kept Skipper waiting any longer.

"I…I've been..." By the gods…she couldn't do this!

"_Yes_?!"

"…having…_needs_…_urges…_" she looked down in embarrassment. Since she had arrived back to HQ, she had stuck to her male voice, hoping in a futile attempt to fool them.

The men were quiet for a few seconds.

"Mmm-hmm. Then tell me why, according to Kowalski, you were making _female_ mating calls." Skipper demanded.

'Damn…'

Skipper stepped toward the smaller soldier, "Is there something I should know _Private_?"

Private hesitated. She was trapped…

She _could_ deny it, but what was the point, the use? Everyone in the room had heard her call and they all knew that she was the one making it, so why bother playing dumb any longer? If anything, it would only maker Skipper more upset.

Drawing up her baby blue eyes up to Skippers, she replied forlornly, "B-because sir…I _am_ a female."

There. It was now officially out in the open.

Her female voice was all the confirmation they needed.

Julien's jaw dropped open; Maurice blinked and gave a low whistle while Mort continued to stare in confusion. Rico gave a loud gasp with Kowalski doing the same before he clenched his beak shut. I knowing look on his face, clearly saying 'I knew it!'

Skipper however…was a different story.

The second those words left Private's beak, a range of emotions ran through the leaders face. Surprise, confusion, disbelieve, hurt, and the most powerful, the one that stuck on…rage.

The anger emitting from him made the female shrink back in fear that he would strike her in his anger.

"You're a _what.?_!" Skipper growled.

"A female." Private repeated.

Skipper shook his head, "But _how_? We took- _you_ took the DNA test…you came out _male_! How is it that you're a…a _girl_?!" By now he had his flippers on his hips, his glare never wavering. Boy he was scary when he was mad.

Kowalski stepped forward though a bit uncertainly, "If you don't mind sir," he flinched when Skipper snapped his glare to the second in command, though the scientist continued, "I think I can shed some light on what happened."

"Enlighten us Kowalski."

Kowalski nodded, "I believe that on the day of the test, my machine may have malfunctioned without my knowing. Since we all took the test at the same time, it must have picked up a female DNA during the processing, but mixed up Private's with someone else's…which happened to be you."

Skipper whirled around to Private and he regarded her for a moment. His blue eyes looking her up and down, unsure whether to believe all this or not.

"Do you still have that contraption Kowalski?" he questioned, not taking his eyes off Private.

"Yes sir."

"Bring it out." Skipper ordered.

Private sighed. She should have known Skipper would want to do a retest.

Kowalski quickly scrambled away and disappeared into the storage room, leaving the other occupants alone to stare at the revealed female.

The tension was so thick one could cut it with a knife.

Private, was practically suffocating in it. "Skippah I-"

"_Don't_ speak unless spoken too." Skipper snapped. Private shut her beak. That hurt.

Luckily, Kowalski returned, pushing the analyzer into the room. He turned to Private and held up a small cup, "Would you?" he asked uncertainly, obviously not comfortable with asking a woman to do something as gross and 'manly' as spitting.

Resisting the urge to roll her eyes, Private nodded and took the cup from the scientist. This is exactly what she was worried about should she have revealed her true gender sooner. She _knew_ they would start to treat her different. Something she _didn't_ want. She knew she could keep up with the guys, and she would prefer they treat her equally, be she male or female.

Feeling only a little self-conscious, she gathered up enough saliva and spat into the cup before handing it to the lieutenant.

Kowalski took the object and poured its contents into the DNA analyzer and stood back among the assembled group to wait for the results. Though to the strategist, this was all unnecessary. Private had already provided enough proof that she was in fact a female and had even confessed it herself. The test was just going to tell them all what they already knew. But if it made Skipper happy…

The test ended and everyone watched as the pencil drew a single horizontal line, confirming Private's words and everyone's theories once and for all.

Private watched Skipper out of the corner of her eye. The leader was staring at the test results, his flippers clenched behind his back.

"Sir I can explain-"

"Well you better!" Skipper whirled around to her, his eyes ablaze.

Private backed away and Kowalski moved closer to his leader, "Easy Skipper…" he warned. He then looked down at the newly revealed female, "Private," he paused as if wondering if he should still be calling her that, "Why don't you start from the beginning…you know when you first got here and uh…_informed_ us, for lack of better words, that you were male even though you obviously weren't."

Private cringed at the way Kowalski worded it. He was using the nice approach of asking why she had flat out lied to them upon arriving to the zoo.

Looking around at group, Private gave a large inhale before letting it out slowly. 'Here we go.'

"It's true…as I've said and as the DNA test has confirmed, I am a woman. I always have been." She paused, "I lied when I arrived because…" she looked up at the males that consisted of her team, ashamed of what she was going to say next, "because…I was afraid of what you would do if you knew my true gender."

Rico raised a brow, "Huh?"

"I mean I was a sixteen year old girl…my uncle and I were afraid that one or all of you would try to do something if you knew the truth! I did it for my own safety, that's why I lied!" Private explained, hoping they would see her reason.

"Even after you saw how we were…how we had better morals than that, you still held on the charade?" Kowalski could see her side of things, however, the fact that she hadn't come clean sooner because she still didn't trust them, hurt. It hurt even more that she had gone _years_ without saying anything. In his mind, that meant that there was still a hint of hidden distrust.

Private rubbed one of her flippers as she looked away, ashamed. "I wanted to tell you all sooner, but I didn't know how to tell you. Plus I was worried you would all be upset."

"And you don't think we aren't upset now? Now that we know you've been hiding this for not one, not two or three, but _four_ almost _five_ years!" Skipper butted in. Private remained quiet. She knew Skipper was right. Keeping silent for so long had only made things worse.

"How long did you think you could hide this from us? How long were you even _planning_ on hiding this from us?!" Skipper demanded, sounding much like a father scolding a young child.

"I don't know…" Private whimpered, hating herself as her eyes began to water. How she wished this interrogation could just end, better yet, she wished she could just go back in time to prevent this from happening. She actually contemplated on sneaking off later to use Kowalski's time machine, the chrono-…whatever he called it, but after the mishap that occurred when it was used incorrectly last time made her think twice.

Facing facts, she was stuck in this situation. Even if she could successfully work the machine, there was still a chance that the discovery would happen anyway, one way or another.

After looking over Private in suspicion, Skipper spoke again, "Now I assume your recent visit to the Doc had something to do with all this?"

Private nodded, "Yes…they say I'm ready to choose a mate and start a family-"

"Oh for the love of…!" Skipper looked away while the other males shifted uncomfortably.

"They're going to send me to another zoo!" Private finished. She didn't even mention the humans' notion of her mating with one of them. She couldn't. Plus, they probably all got the hint.

Skipper narrowed his eyes, "And when were you going to tell us about _that_? You didn't think we would find out about the transfer, or the meaning behind it? Or what about when you came back pregnant with an egg? What were you going to say about that?!"

"I'm_ sorry _Skippah!"

The room went mute again and Private quickly placed her flippers over her beak.

She hadn't meant to yell at her higher up, she really hadn't…it had just slipped out. His angry questioning had really got to her and she had just felt so overwhelmed with emotion that she had to get him quiet…to get him to just _stop_.

The look of fury that swept through Skipper's eyes made her regret her actions and she looked down, "I'm sorry." She said submissively. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw one of Skipper's flipper twitch as if for a split second, he actually thought about hitting her as he would have back when he thought she was a male, before deciding against it. This didn't stop Rico from moving a bit closer to her; an action Private assumed was for cautionary reasons…in case Skipper actually _did_ try to hit her. For protection.

While Private partially appreciated the effort, she still couldn't help but feel a bit offended. Already they were acting like she was some fragile porcelain doll that needed to be kept from all harm, as if she couldn't defend or take care of herself.

Taking a somewhat 'calming' breath, though his tone still cold and hard, Skipper spoke, "So I'm guessing that since it was _so_ hard to say anything to _us_, your own team, your _comrades_, you decided to go tell _them_." He jerked his head in the direction of the lemurs, who all tensed at being brought into the conversation. "Obviously they're in on it since they were covering for you not too long ago."

Julien opened his mouth to argue, but Private beat him too it. Skipper was already livid enough; she didn't want him to take his anger out on innocent animals, especially since this was as much of a surprise to them as it was to the other penguins.

"They didn't know anything about me being a female. I asked them to make some noise while I did my mating calls, but I never revealed my gender." Private defended.

Kowalski spoke up again, "Besides us and the humans, does anyone else in the zoo know about you?"

Skipper was watching her silently, almost daring her to answer that question.

"Marlene, Becky, and Stacy know." Private replied, almost painfully.

"So you trust them more than you trust us." Skipper announced in a neutral tone. Private wasn't sure whether or not to be relieved that he wasn't yelling.

"Well sir, they _are_ fellow females in Private's eyes and-"

"Shut it Kowalski!"

"Yes sir."

Again someone tried to defend her on her behalf. Though Private did feel a twinge of guilt as she watched Kowalski slink away from Skipper.

Taking the risk of having Skipper's steel gaze on her again, Private spoke up, "They were the only ones that would understand my position. As K'walski was saying; they're girls too, and are easier to talk to. The reason why I told them was because I _really_ needed to tell someone, and they were the ones I trusted the most."

Private's eyes widened when she realized her mistake.

The moment those last words left her mouth, she knew she had just confirmed what the three male penguins were speculating.

Not telling her team her deepest secret was just a _hint_ that she didn't trust them. What she told them _now_ sounded a lot like a confession.

She just pretty much 'admitted' that she had no trust in Skipper, Kowalski or Rico and held civilians above them.

Now this wasn't true, as Private held equal trust in _all_ of her friends, but that's not how the males interpreted her. They all took it the wrong way. She could see it in their eyes, as clear as day, and she felt her heart break further…if that was even possible.

Hurt and betrayal were evident in Kowalski and Rico's faces, though Skipper's was a bit harder to read. The only thing Private could read was disappointment.

"No further questions. We're done for the night." Skipper declared, not looking at the female.

Private shook her head. No she couldn't let them go through the night thinking the wrong thing!

"Skippah-"

"We're _done_ for the night." Skipper repeated.

Private opened to argue, but wisely snapped it shut. It would be better to wait.

The lemurs, who had remained silent and mostly forgotten save for when Skipper mentioned them, decided that now would be a good time to leave and began to make their way to the exit.

"Before you go," They froze at Skipper's voice, "take _her_ with you." He motioned to a surprised Private.

"…w-what…?" Private stuttered. Was he kicking her out?

"Leave with them. Spend the night with them or Marlene or whoever, I don't care. I don't want you in here tonight." Skipper answered.

Private blinked and slowly followed after the mammals.

"And don't bother coming to training tomorrow."

This made Private turned in confusion, "Sir?"

"You heard me. I don't want to see you tomorrow." Skipper deadpanned.

Private felt a lump in her throat, "Aye sir." She choked out before following the lemurs out the ladder.

Once out, Private glanced at Marlene's dark habitat and contemplated whether or not she should wake her up at this hour. It was already well over one in the morning, and she really didn't want to disturb the otter's sleep with her problems. If anything, she could just sleep out here on the ice flow tonight and then just spend the day at Marlene's…giving that it was a slow visiting day.

She was about to move to a corner on the flow when Maurice's voice caused her to turn, "You're more than welcome to spend the night with us if you don't want to bother Marlene."

Obviously they had noticed her hesitation to leave.

"Oh, no I don't want to be a burden." Private declined, only for Julien to give a smile,

"Nonsense! You can sleep in my bouncy house, it's a lot more comfy than this cold, hard rock." Julien insisted.

Knowing that there would be no winning with the lemur king, Private gave a forced smile and followed them back to their habitat.

Once she was settled on the inflatable bedding, Private rolled onto her back and stared up at the sky, replaying the night's event in her mind.

Feeling the bounce house shift, she turned and saw the lemurs climbing on as well.

"Don't be worrying your head," Julien assured, "we will all stay in our own corner of the bouncy house…_Mort_." The ring-tail glared at the mouse lemur, a silent threat evident in his yellow eyes, though the threat was more for his sake than for Privates. Not that she cared as she knew none of them would try anything.

Private relaxed and was about to continue her musing when Maurice spoke up again, "Hey don't worry about the guys," he said as he passed the penguin on his way to his own corner, "I'm sure they'll come around soon."

"I hope so Maurice." Private whispered. She said it so softly that it was nearly inaudible, but she knew the aye-aye's keen hearing had picked up her words.

"Well, tomorrow's another day! Just give Skipper some time to cool off and things will get better." Maurice comforted.

His words were so soothing and assuring that Private almost believed him. Deep down, she knew that things would never truly be the same. While the men would eventually forgive her, she knew that they would probably never treat her the same as they did when they thought she was 'young Private 'Victor''. They would always fuss over her and she seriously doubt they would include her in anymore of their 'manly' conversations or games. Rico and Kowalski's actions in the base confirmed this.

Sighing, Private was about to fall asleep when Julien's voice sounded out, "Tsara mandry dia manaova nofy tsara!"

Private blinked and sat up, brow furrowed, "…what…?"

What language _was_ that?

Originating from England, Private was familiar with different European languages spoken by foreigners that visited her old zoo. While she couldn't speak or understand any of them, she could still somewhat differentiate some of the languages from English; Spanish, German, Italian, French, Greek and several others. The one Julien spoke however, was new.

"Pardon my ignorance but…what language is that?" Private questioned. Her feminine British accent breaking the silence that had descended upon the habitat.

Julien sat up as well, "It is Malagasy."

Private tilted her head, "Malagasy?"

Julien nodded, "Yes, it is our native language from Madagascar."

"That's where we're from!" Mort piped up, stating the obvious.

"Oh…what does it mean?" Private questioned. This was a pretty good distraction from her current issues. Talking about this almost made her forget about Skipper and the guys…almost.

By now, Maurice was sitting up along with the rest of the group, "Well in direct translation it means 'good sleep and make a good dream', but using English grammar it's supposed to mean 'good night and sweet dreams'." Maurice explained.

Private gave an amused smile, "I wasn't aware you lot were bilingual." She said honestly.

Maurice chuckled, "We speak mostly English, even back in Madagascar, but pretty much everyone back home knows a bit of Malagasy…enough to hold a small conversation if we wanted."

Private gave a small thoughtful "hmm" before everyone laid back down and said their final good nights.

The last thing Private thought was how rough her next few days were going to be.

She had never seen Skipper so upset, and she could only wonder what was going on through his mind and what was happening at the base right now.

Shifting on her spot, Private closed her eyes and hoped that she would receive some 'sweet dreams'.

After what happened, she really needed some.

**A/N: Whew! That was intense! And I hate to say it, but things aren't done for young Private. :( She's got a lot more coming before her big adventure starts!**

**Note to rating: As y'all may have noticed, as of last chapter, the story is really gonna start heading into…well…T rating stuff, so they'll be some suggestive material (nothing too graphic that should move the story to M) and some language, hence the use of 'damn' in this chapter. Just thought I'd give y'all a heads up. ;)**

**Hmmm…let's see, what else…oh! Foreign language! This wasn't hinted or anything in the movies or series, but I thought this would be a fun little thing to add to the lemurs' personalities. Apparently, Malagasy is one of the native languages in Madagascar, and since Julien, Maurice and Mort are from there, I figured, why not? Now I didn't want to make them **_**too**_** fluent, just knowledgeable enough to spew out some short expressions. *shrug*. **

**As to what Julien says, I found the phrase on a website called 'my languages. org'. I'm not sure how accurate it is since the only languages I know are English and Spanish, so I'll have to take the sites word on that. **

**Chapter 7 and more drama are on the way and coming soon! Sit tight, and as always, reviews are always welcome! :D **


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Hey everybody! I hope I didn't scare anyone into thinking that I've abandoned this story or anything. I was in and out of town for the holidays and didn't exactly get a chance to write…not if I wanted nosey family members watching me over my shoulder as I typed :p. After that, I returned home with a nasty cold and I just really didn't have it in me to write those few days I was sick. But I feel much better and I was able to write out this chapter. **

**So, here ya go! **

**P.S: Thanks for all the reviews y'all sent in during the holidays, as always, they really made my day! **

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Penguins of Madagascar. It belongs to Dreamworks and Nickelodeon studios. I make no monetary profit off this fic. The only benefit I get are the happy reviews. :) **

The sun rose over the zoo and Private stirred from her sleep, a soft yawn escaping her beak as she rubbed her eyes with her flippers.

For a brief moment, she forgot all about the nights events, and was actually surprised to wake up in the lemurs' habitat. It wasn't until she heard the faint sound of Skipper's voice over the tall wall that she remembered his order for her to find another place to sleep and to not report for the morning training.

She was pulled from her reminiscing at the sound of loud snoring, and she looked at the corner diagonal from her. A small smile crept across her beak when she caught sight of Julien sprawled out in an awkward, almost uncomfortable looking position, with a sleeping Mort clinging to one of his feet. Obviously the little mouse lemur had ignored the kings threat, and Private was sure that once Julien woke up, Mort wouldn't be smiling anymore.

"Good to see you're awake."

Private turned to see Maurice holding a cup filled with a light pink liquid out to her. "It's a strawberry milkshake. The king drinks one every day for breakfast, and since there was a good amount left over, I figured you could have a cup too." He explained.

Private it took it with a grateful smile, "Thank you Maurice, I was feeling pretty hungry." She thanked before taking a sip from the straw, "Wow, this is amazing!" she exclaimed as she followed the aye-aye away from the make-shift bed.

Maurice chuckled, "Thanks! Like I said, I make these every morning for Julien so I'm pretty sure I've got it down perfect." He crossed his arms in pride as Private finished off the breakfast drink.

"It certainly seems like you've figured out the perfect way to make a strawberry shake." She handed the now empty cup back to the lemur.

"MORT, OFF THE ROYAL FEET!"

The two moved just as said lemur landed right where they had been standing seconds ago. Maurice sighed, "Well, that's my cue to get his royal highness his breakfast." His ears twitched as he picked up the faint sound of the front zoo gate opening. "And not to be pushy or anything, but I think Alice just arrived, so you _might_ wanna head back to your habitat before she sees you here." He warned.

Private nodded and glanced in the direction of her home, a bit uneasily.

Maurice gave her a comforting pat on her back, "It'll be okay. Just take the day one hour at a time and it'll go by in a flash." Seeing that the penguin still didn't look too sure, he added, "And if things are still tense over there, your more than welcome to hang with us after zoo hours…unless you wanna go to Marlene's or whatever that's cool too. You know we've got your back."

"Thanks again for everything, and I'll see what happens at the end of the day. I'm probably gonna stay with Marlene for the night, but I'll come by for a visit later…if that's alright." Private smiled in gratitude.

"Of course its fine! You're welcome here anytime the guys give you any problems!" Maurice insisted.

Overwhelmed by the hospitality that the lemurs had given her, Private couldn't help but give the short black aye-aye a hug in thanks.

Maurice tensed for a second before returning the gesture. "I promise things will turn out okay. The guys are just a little surprised that's all. They'll come around in time." He comforted and gave her a tight squeeze before releasing her.

The sound of Alice's voice caught their attention and the two animals peaked over the wall. They were greeted by the sight of the female zoo keeper talking to a younger male wearing the same uniform as her.

"Must be a new guy." Maurice mused.

"It would seem so." Private agreed.

"What are we whispering about?"

The new voice startled the two and Private looked to her right where Julien was peaking over the edge as well.

"Good morning your majesty." Maurice deadpanned. It had been so peaceful before the ringtail had shown up.

"Good morning Maurice…lady penguin," Private winced at the new nickname, "So…what are we looking at?"

"We were just noting the new zoo employee." Private explained, "And judging by how Alice is showing him around, I think I'd better get back to my habitat. Thank you for letting me stay for the night!" she thanked as she stealthily made her way back to the penguin holding area.

"Bye-bye lady penguin! Come back soon!" Julien called out with a wave, "Maurice! Is my strawberry milky-shake ready?!" she heard him demand just as she leapt over her habitat fence and into the pool.

She resurfaced, almost expecting Skipper to chew her out for returning, though to her relief, it never came. Upon climbing onto the iceberg, she found the three boys at one of the berg, all standing at attention and not looking at her.

Deciding it would be best not to go near them yet, she remained at the other end, far enough from the males.

She shook off the drops of water just as Alice and the new zoo keeper arrived at their enclosure.

"-And these are the penguins." She deadpanned in her usual bored monotone. The male human grinned at the black and white birds,

"Hey, they look pretty cute standing like that…bunch of little tough guys." He laughed goodheartedly. Alice rolled her eyes, "Yeah…'cute'…they're a bunch of trouble makers Bruce." she grumbled.

Bruce ignored her, "Why is that little one standing all by itself over there?" He questioned while pointing at Private.

Alice narrowed her eyes in confusion, "Hmm…I'm not sure. That's our female penguin who's _supposed_ to be choosing a mate, but for some reason or another, she hasn't done so."

Private flinched while the males tensed. Alice crossed her arms, "I'm not sure what she's waiting for, I mean she's got three choices right in front of her." The female zoo keeper shrugged, "But I don't know. It's the doc that wants them to breed. I can honestly care less."

Bruce looked over at Private, "I guess she's just a little nervous. Is this her first time mating?"

"Yeah. According to doc, she was ready to start mating two years ago, but she never did. It wasn't until a few days ago when she started showing signs that she was officially ready. That's why it's so weird that she hasn't done anything." Alice replied, looking at the female penguin as well.

Private caught sight of Skipper eyeing her, his sapphire eyes narrowed into slits.

"That one doesn't look too happy." Bruce pointed out, jerking his head in Skipper's direction. Alice regarded the second shortest penguin with a frown, "No he doesn't…weird, they all usually get along pretty well." She shook her head,

"Like I said, I don't care whether they have any eggs or not. Let's get back to the tour. Visitors will be coming soon." She announced, leading the new employee away from the birds. Bruce turned back to Private one last time, "Hang in there girl." He winked before following after the red head.

Private watched the humans for a moment before turning to her so called 'friends'. They turned away the moment they locked eyes with her, causing the female to drop her head with a sigh.

She felt like a complete stranger in her own home. She was being shunned by her own friends when just a few short days ago, they treated her as their equal, as their 'brother'. Now, they were acting as if she had just admitted that she was a double agent, a traitor, a _backstabber_.

Turning away, Private stared into the water, wishing that her uncle wasn't busy on a mission so that she could join him in England for a month or two.

Maurice said to give them some time, and Private figured that leaving would be the best way to do it…if only she didn't have to wait another four or five days. Perhaps her uncle wouldn't mind if she arrived early? She knew which zoo he resided in, or if not, she could always stay in his hidden cottage until he returned.

Private pondered this over. Finally she came to the conclusion that if things didn't smooth over in the next couple of days, she would leave early.

With this in mind, she lifted her head to see the first of the zoo visitors enter through the gate, with a few casually making their way over to the penguin enclosure.

Putting on a smile, though making sure she stayed well away from…the males…she proceeded to put on her cute and cuddly act. She may have been having a lousy day, but there was no need to put a damper on the humans' moods.

The adored 'aww's' that resonated from the small crowd lifted the she-penguin's mood. The genuine smiles coming from the humans made her feel at ease, especially once penguin feeding time came around and she was tossed a good amount of fish.

The only time she somewhat interacted with either of the boys was when one fish flew a little too high over her head and landed behind her. When she turned to pick it up, she came face to face with Rico, who had also made to grab the treat.

The two had stared at each other in awkward silence for a couple of seconds before Private stood gave a sheepish grin. "You keep it Rico." She stated, hoping that this would be a small peace offering to the weapons expert.

To her surprise, Rico shook his head, picked up the bite-sized snack, and held it out to her, "_You_ take it." He ground out in his garbled accent.

Private blinked in surprise. Rico _never_ shared his meals, especially when it was fish! She cocked a brow, unsure if she should trust him. Then ever so slowly, she reached out and timidly took the fish from his hold. To her astonishment, the psychotic bird parted with his favorite food peacefully. There was no freak out or hidden attack as she was expecting. He had genuinely given her the food without incident.

Her surprise increased when he actually gave her a playful lopsided smile before turning and rejoining the rest of the rookery.

As he left, Private allowed herself to smile in relief. It seemed that Rico had already forgiven her and was fine with her being female.

Private sighed as if a heavy weight had been lifted off her shoulders. 'One weight down, two to go.' She thought as she turned back to the humans.

**Time: 5:00 P.M; Zoo Closing. Location: Penguin Habitat**

At last it was closing time, and Private watched as the humans finally sauntered out of the zoo, with Alice and Bruce being the last to leave after giving one last check over the animals.

As Alice made her way to the front gates, she turned back and pointed a finger to the watching creatures, "_Behave_…all of you!" she hissed before shutting and locking the gates. Bruce gave her a confused look but didn't question her on it.

Skipper huffed, "_Finally_, I thought she would never leave!" he turned to Rico, "Rico, you're with me on recon duty." He turned to the resident scientist, "Kowalski, you stay here and hold the fort."

The two penguins gave a salute and Rico followed after Skipper, who completely ignored Private.

Deciding to take a risk, Private spoke up, "And me? Sir?"

Skipper paused, "You…can do whatever you want. Go wherever you want. I don't care." He growled and leapt gracefully out of the enclosure with Rico following close behind.

Private and Kowalski stood on the iceberg in awkward silence before the scientist cleared his throat, "I'm uh…I'm gonna go down and…work on some stuff." He announced before hopping down the hole.

Private watched him go and after a moment of mental debating, she followed after.

She found him in his lab, tweaking some sort of invention he was working on. His back was to her, and he made no indication that he had heard her come in.

Private opened her beak to announce her presence when he spoke up, startling her.

"You could have at _least_ told _me_."

Private froze as Kowalski finally turned to look her in the eye. "I wouldn't have said anything…" he paused to think it over, "actually I _would_, but I would have calmed him down or talked some sense into him o-or _something_!"

"Did you do that after I left last night?" Private challenged softly.

Kowalski looked away, "I tried, but he was too upset…"

"He hates me." Private said with a sob.

Kowalski stood up and pulled Private into a hug, to which Private responded by burrowing her face into his chest. "He doesn't hate you." He assured, "He's just…I don't know what's going through his mind right now, but I don't think its hate…anger yes, but not hate."

"Then why won't he talk or look at me?" Private whimpered. Kowalski shook his head, "He's just working things out in his head. The best thing to do is to stay out of his way until this blows over and he gets over it."

"Things aren't ever going to be the same again…are they K'walski?"

"…no…they're not."

"I'm sorry K'walski…"

The male's hold on her tightened, "I know you are. And I forgive you."

Private sighed. Two weights down.

**Time: 5:30 P.M. **

**Location: Central Park Zoo**

Skipper held his flippers crossed over his chest, a frown etched on his beak and his sapphire eyes glaring ahead. His mind on a certain, newly revealed, female penguin.

He shook his head with a scoff, causing Rico to give a side glance though he did nothing more than that.

Skipper was glad the generally mute penguin didn't prod him. He was too busy fuming at Private to start a conversation with his best friend. And with his current mood, he was afraid he would end up snapping at Rico, so he embraced the silence.

The Captain shifted in his seat, his glare hardening as he thought of the youngest member…if he should even _consider_ her a member. He ran his tongue against his cheek. His team _knew_ how he felt about secrets and lies! They knew that as part of the team, there should be no secret holding or lying going on. Sure Skipper had his own fair share of secrets and he had told a good amount of lies, but that was different. Call him a hypocrite for all he cared, but he knew that _his_ secrets were for his teams own good and he lied to them for their safety. _They_ however, as the lower ranking members, had to tell him _everything_. He as the leader had to know what was going on in his own team.

Holding back something like, being the complete opposite gender, was completely unacceptable. And it wasn't _just _because of his views on women, though it did have something to do with it, but because of all the dangerous situations that he had gotten her in.

He stood by what he always said about females being the weaker sex and needing a man's protection. Yes he could admit that Private, or whatever her name was, had proven herself on the field, but there was still the cold truth that she was the weakest member of the team and while he had originally blamed it on her age and size, he know felt that it was also because of her gender that she couldn't keep up with the rest of them.

Going back to the danger he had constantly put her in, if _any_ of his male enemies had found out that she were female…he shuddered to think of what could have happened!

'Then let's not forget all the times you and the boys hit her.' His conscious reminded him, causing him to groan inwardly.

While he grew up thinking that females weren't as strong as males, he was also taught that he should _never_ hit women, which thank the gods he's never had a female arch enemy. Yet while he thought he had lucked out on that aspect, it turned out that every time he had slapped Private, he was actually slapping a young lady. To make matters worse, he would sometimes do it with malicious intent, and being as strong as he was, she was lucky he didn't hurt her too badly.

Skipper looked out to the side. He was starting to think that for her best interest and safety, it would probably be better if she _wasn't_ part of the team.

**A/N: Well, there you have it. Chapter 7, and things are starting to fall apart. :(**

**Lots more to come soon! Hang tight!**

**As always, reviews and helpful criticism are always welcome and always appreciated. :) **


End file.
